


One Black Eye Too Many

by AlexWarden



Category: Welcome to Hell - All Media Types
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-09
Updated: 2014-10-09
Packaged: 2018-02-20 13:41:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2430875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlexWarden/pseuds/AlexWarden
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jonathan faces his school bully.</p>
            </blockquote>





	One Black Eye Too Many

Tw: domestic violence, animal abuse, slurs

This wasn’t the first time Jonathan had been hit by the same person, and it most definitely won’t be the last. He sighed softly, looking at the swollen, purple lump on his face. The person who caused this was Zach Melto. Not a week went by without Jonathan receiving some kind of injury from his bully, for some reason or another. Sometimes he wanted money, other times it was because he was angry, and occasionally it was for no reason at all. He made Jonathan’s already miserable life at school near unbearable. Suddenly the bell rang, signaling to Jonathan that he needed to get back to class. Quickly he gathered his stuff and hurried to his next class, sitting in the back corner, as far away from Zach’s preferred seat as he could. Unfortunately someone decided to take his seat before he got there. Then the one next to it, then the next. Where was he? There’s no way he wasn’t here today, his face was still throbbing from a few minutes ago. Soon the whole class was filled up except for…oh no. The seat directly next to him was the only one open. Great. This class was going to be spectacular. He braced himself as Melto finally came in, looked around, and grimaced before grudgingly making his way over and roughly throwing his bag down on Jonathan’s foot, eliciting a slight grunt of pain as he pulled it out from underneath the bag. Zach smirked and leaned forward on his desk.  
“Ok class.” The teacher began. “We’re going to be doing group projects today, and you’ll each be assigned a partner. You will complete this assignment at home over the next week. It will be due this Friday.” The class groaned in unison as she began scanning the classroom. “Everyone on the far right row look to your left, and everyone on the far left look to your right. That is now your partner for the week.” She said and started handing out worksheets. Jonathan slowly looked to his right and shrunk into his seat, watching as Zach glared at him distastefully.  
This was going to be the worst week of his life. “We’re going to my house after school.” Zach said coldly. “And you’re doing all of it.” Jonathan nodded quickly and buried his face in the handout to avoid having to look at him. For the first time in his life, Jonathan didn’t want school to ever end.

* * *

"Yeah, I’m going to be at a friends house til about seven today." Jonathan told his mom, waiting for Zach to come out of the school so he could drive them both to his house. "Ok, love you too, bye." He finished and hung up, shoving his phone is his pocket. Just then Zach came out of the school and shoved him in the direction if his car. "Come on Combs, I don’t have all day."  
Begrudgingly Jonathan climbed into the passenger seat of the two seat pickup truck. He almost wanted to sit in the back in the flatbed.

The ride to his house held quite possibly the most tense silence that any two individuals had ever created together. Jonathan was pushed up as far as he could to the window, still feeling the sting from his eye. The fact that the person who gave it to him was driving less than a foot away from didn’t help much. Zach seemed a bit tense. It’s almost as if he was extra pissed off at Jonathan today.

The 20 minute drive seemed like twenty years to Jonathan. Quickly he began to notice that they were headed into a bad part of the neighborhood. He hadn’t expected Zach to have lived in the best house, but this…wow. It was more beat up than his truck, which he didn’t think was previously possible. For a second he almost felt bad for him. Almost.

Quickly Jonathan gathered his stuff to avoid getting pushed by Zach again and stood by the door, waiting for him to unlock it. Zach got his stuff and came up to unlock the door, shoved Jonathan anyway, and went inside. Jonathan followed and started getting his stuff out of his bag and laid it out on what he believed was the living room floor. As he got started, Zach got up and got a can of soda from the kitchen and promptly plopped onto the couch.

It was a bit hard to concentrate when every few seconds Zach would slurp his drink obnoxiously loudly. Judging by the look on his face, and the fact that he’s Zach, he was definitely doing it on purpose. After a bit the noise finally stopped, signaling that he was done, thank God.

Suddenly there was a light scratching noise on the door, following by soft whimpering. Zach immediately bolted to the door and opened it, scooped up the little dog, and quickly closed the door. He returned to the couch cradling it in his jacket. He was quieting it with a treat from his pocket so it wouldn’t bark or whine, and hid it the best he could in his bulky sports jacket.  
“ZACHARY PHINEAS MELTO DID I HEAR THAT BLASTED DOG IN HERE?!” A voice screeched from the other room, followed by his dad storming in. “I TOLD YOU IF I FIND THAT RAT NEAR OUR HOUSE AGAIN I’D…” He stops mid-sentence when he sees Jonathan. “Zach, you didn’t tell me someone was over.” He said in a dull tone.  
“He just got here…teacher assigned a group project and he had to come home with me.” Zach said quietly.  
“I told you boy, I can’t have people in the house without knowin’! I’ll have a talk with you when he leaves.” He finished and gestured towards Jonathan. Suddenly the puppy moved, trying to get out of Zach’s jacket. He tried to cover it by shifting his arms to look like it was just him, but his dad continued glaring. Jonathan felt like he had to do something or that dog would get hurt.  
“Uh…Mr. Melto?” He questioned, gaining a cold stare. “Can you show me where the bathroom is?”  
He glared at Jonathan for a second before gesturing for him to follow him. As soon as they were out of sight Zach went to his room on the other side of the house and put the dog in it, leaving the rest of the treats so it’d be quiet then promptly returned to his seat on the couch. Jonathan returned a few minutes later and continued working. He didn’t even receive a thank you from Zach, but that was expected. Why would he have a puppy though? And why was his dad so angry about it? Jonathan was almost getting worried about what would happen to Zach when he left. Suddenly something hard hit him in the back of the head and clattered onto the floor. “Ow!” He exclaimed and turned around. Zach had thrown the empty soda can at him and was now reclining on the couch. The worry was gone. He felt something warm go down the back of his neck and put his hand over it then looked at it. He was bleeding. The stupid can must have cut him. He sighed and went into the kitchen to get some paper towels to stop the bleeding. The entire house smelled like piss. He didn’t understand how anyone could live here. Soon the bleeding stopped, but by then it was time for him to leave. He had almost finished anyway, and he wanted to leave as soon as possible. Gathering his stuff he walked out the door without as much as a goodbye. He’d rather not speak to any Melto ever again.  
As he was rounding the corner, he could hear hell break loose when he passed the window to Zach’s room.  
“HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I TOLD YOU NOT TO HAVE PEOPLE OVER WITHOUT TELLIN ME?! I CANT HAVE PEOPLE SNIFFING AROUND HERE.” His dad screamed, follows by the sound of glass shattering, which was probably a bottle thrown at the wall. “AND DONT THINK I DIDNT SEE HOW YOU WERE LOOKIN AT THAT BOY YOU HAD OVER.” Zach had scrambled into his room and locked the door by now, sporting a bloody nose and a fresh black eye, mirroring Jonathan’s. He was trying his best to push furniture in front of the door. “I’VE HAD IT WITH YOU BOY! I KNEW YOU WERE A PANSY BUT I DIDN’T THINK YOU WERE A FAGGOT!” He screamed and started slamming into the door. “BOY YOU BETTER UNLOCK THIS DOOR OR THER’LL BE HELL TO PAY!” Zach was curled up into a ball behind his bed, clutching the puppy and covering its mouth. Tears were streaming down his cheeks and he was biting his lip so hard it was turning white so his dad wouldn’t know he was crying.  
“AS SOON AS I FIND THE BLASTED KEY TO YOUR ROOM I’M GOING TO COME IN THERE AND KILL THAT STUPID RAT! YOU HEAR ME BOY? AND THAT KID WILL BE NEXT IF I EVER SEE YOU AROUND HIM AGAIN!” Zach was shaking uncontrollably and clutching the puppy and was muttering something with his hands clasped, like he was pleading to whatever deity was out there to do something.  
Jonathan had enough. He couldn’t let this happen to him, no matter how much he hated Zach. This wasn’t right.  
He tapped on the window. Suddenly Zach’s head snapped towards him, horrified and unsure of what to make of the situation. Jonathan gestured for him to come to the window and cracked it open slightly. Quickly but quietly he got up and went over to the window. “What are you still doing here?” He hissed softly. “My dad’s gonna shoot you if he sees you still here!”  
“I’m not leaving yet.” Jonathan said bluntly.  
“Please, Jonathan, leave!” Zach pleaded. “He will kill you! I’ve seen him do it Jonathan, he’s killed people before!”  
“I’m not leaving without you.”  
Jonathan stated and opened the window all the way. “Come on, hurry. You’ve got to get out before he gets back.” Zach nodded and handed the puppy to him through the window, and went back to his bed. He lifted up the mattress and retrieved a sketchbook and pencil set, a photo album, a bit of money and a little stuffed rabbit before climbing out the window. Suddenly the door started rattling as his dad tried to open it, only to have it stop against the desk in front of it. “BOY YOU’RE IN REAL TROUBLE NOW!” He screamed. “ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME? BOY YOU HAD BETTER ANSWER!” But Zach was already long gone. It was a bit of a hike to Jonathan’s house from Zach’s, and it took about three hours of on and off running just to get to his neighborhood.

Jonathan lived in a gated area, and needed to explain to the guard at the gate why two out of breath teenagers with black eyes were trying to get past the gate. Fortunately whoever was working recognized him and let them both through. They were able to walk the rest of the way. When Jonathan reached his house and unlocked the door he was greeted with his mother. “Jonathan!” She exclaimed angrily. “Do you have any IDEA how late it is? I was worried sick about…” She stopped mid sentence when she saw Zach, dried blood all over his face and a black eye. “Jonathan…” She asked. “Mom, this is Zach.” He said. “He needs to stay with us for a while.” She paused for a second, but eventually agreed. “Ok. Both of you can stay home from school for the next few days. It looks like you’ve been through a lot.”  
“Thank you.” Zach said softly. If Jonathan wasn’t mistaken, that was the first time he had ever heard Zach say those two words to anyone.  
“Zach, go clean yourself up. There’s a shower upstairs. Jonathan, please get him something to wear for when he’s finished and then come tell me what happened.” His mom said.  
“Ok.” Jonathan said and led Zach upstairs. “Go ahead and shower in there, I’ll put some clothes out on the bed. You can keep them.”  
“Ok. Thanks.” Zach said and closed the door to the bathroom. Jonathan went downstairs when he heard the water turn on and found his mom on the couch cradling the puppy, which was now asleep in her arms. He sat down and explained everything about Zach, from the bullying to the project to his dad…when he was finished his mom looked at him sadly. “Oh, the poor dear.” She said and ran her fingers through her lavender hair. “Tell him he can stay as long as he needs to, but your father will be keeping an eye on him.” She said, gesturing to his black eye.  
“Ok.” Jonathan said. “I’m gonna go get the spare mattress and lay it on the floor for Zach. I don’t think he’d want to sleep alone on the couch after tonight.”  
“I don’t think so either.” She said. “Well goodnight Jonathan. I hope Zach adjusts well.”  
“Yeah, me too.” He said and fetched the mattress from under the steps and dragged it upstairs. By the time Zach got out of the shower Jonathan had already gotten sheets and blankets onto the mattress, and placed his little bunny on the pillow. As he came in he almost started crying. “You…you set this up?” He choked. “For me?”  
“Well, yeah, I mean…what were you going to do? Go downstairs and sleep on the…” He was cut off by Zach pulling him into a tight hug and sobbing into his shoulder.  
“Uhh…ok…you just…do that. Ok. Let it out, it’s ok.” Jonathan attempted to comfort him and rubbed his back.  
“I…I’m…I’m so sorry…” Zach choked out through sobs. “I’m so sorry for everything, Jonathan. I didn’t want to hurt you, I never wanted to hurt you…”  
Jonathan pushed back and looked him in the eye. “Didn’t want to hurt me?!” He questioned. “Why did you hit me?!” He felt like he shouldn’t be getting mad at Zach right now, but he wasn’t making any sense.  
“I had to Jonathan!” He cried. “I didn’t want you near me…my dad…he…I didn’t want him to know about you. He couldn’t. If he knew he would have hurt you. I needed to keep you away from me. I needed to make sure that you’d stay away from him. Making you hate me was the only thing I could think of. And it hurt, Jonathan, it hurt…it hurt me so bad to do that to you.” He said and pulled up his sleeves, revealing scars all the way up his arms. “There’s one here for every time I hurt you. I couldn’t live without doing…something…in exchange for what I’d done. I know that I’ll never be able to say sorry enough times to make up for what I did to you. You don’t have to forgive me. I understand.”  
Jonathan pulled him into another hug and laid his head against his chest. “It’s ok. You did what you thought was right.” Jonathan said. “It wasn’t the best thing to have done, but it’s ok. You said you were sorry.” He continued and looked up at Zach. “I forgive you. It’s ok.”  
Zach started sobbing harder than before and pulled Jonathan in tighter. “Thank you… Thank you so much.” He said. It was a while before he stopped crying. After he calmed down the two of them crawled into their respectful beds and fell asleep almost immediately. Both of them had a long night.

"Jonathan?"  
He was awoken by Zach lightly shaking him awake.  
“Mmwhat.” Jonathan responded groggily.  
“I…I um…” Zach stuttered. “I had a bad…I dreamt that my dad…he found you and…and…” He couldn’t finish because he was tearing up, but Jonathan understood what he meant.  
“Hey, Zach, it’s ok. I’m right here, see?” Jonathan said put a hand to his cheek. “I’m ok.” Zach still looked at him sadly.  
“Uh…if you need to, you can sleep up here if you want.” Jonathan said.  
“Thank you.” Zach said, smiling slightly and climbed in on the other side of Jonathan. It wasn’t long before he was sleeping soundly.  
After a bit he shifted around Jonathan, holding him tight to his chest. He considered waking up Zach, but decided against it. Soon Jonathan was asleep too, curling up in the warmth of Zach’s chest.

"Jon’tan!" A small voice shouted from the other side of the door. "Jon’tan! Mom n’ Dad said it’s time to wake up! Breakfast is ready!" It continued, knocking on the door. Zach and Jonathan both woke up slowly. In his sleep Jonathan had turned into Zach and had his arms wrapped loosely around his neck. He groaned loudly, not wanting to leave his cozy spot. Zach snapped awake fairly quickly as soon as he realized what was going on. He tried to pull away only to have Jonathan pull back. "Nooo don’t leave. You’re warm." Jonathan said in a slurred tone, obviously not awake. Zach didn’t really want to leave either, but he had to get up. He slung Jonathan onto his back and started carrying him to the door. Whoever woke them up was gone now, so he decided to take his haul downstairs to the kitchen. By the time he got down Jonathan had fallen back asleep and was snoring lightly. Waiting for him was Jonathan’s mom, who he’d met earlier, a man with fiery hair who he assumed was his dad, and a little kid with rusty hair that looked about 7. They were seated at a table with an array of foods set out. Zach went over and carefully set Jonathan on one of the chairs and shook him awake.  
“Mooooom!” The child shrieked. “Who’s that with Jon’tan?”  
“Napoleon, that’s Zach, one of his friends from school.” His mom explained. “He’s going to be staying with us for a while.”  
“Oh.” He said and walked over to him. “Hi mister Zach! My name’s Napoln.” He said and extended his hand.  
“Nice to meet you.” Zach responded and shook his hand. “Your little brother is adorable.” He said to Jonathan.  
“Hmm? Oh thanks.” Jonathan responded.  
“He doesn’t look a lot like you, though.” He said.  
“Yeah, that’s because we’re not actually related.” Jonathan said. “I was adopted by my parents when I was about seven. When I was nine, they decided they wanted another kid and Napoleon was born.”  
“Wait, you’re adopted?” He asked.  
“Yup.” Jonathan responded. “You technically are too now.”  
They talked a bit more over breakfast. Zach was a bit overwhelmed by the amount of food that he was allowed to have. Apparently he wasn’t allowed to have a lot. Jonathan’s mom had set out a bowl and gotten some dog food while they were asleep, and Zach’s puppy was happily munching away at scraps of eggs and bacon from the table.  
Throughout the day Zach was basically clinging to Jonathan wherever he went. The slightest noises startled him, thinking it could be his dad. To calm him down a bit Jonathan turned on the tv and sat down on the couch. Zach stayed next to him, holding his hand like he had been all day. Suddenly a picture of Zach’s dad flashed on the screen, and Jonathan flipped back a few channels to see what it was.  
It was a news channel. “In recent news, a local man was arrested at 10:37 pm last night with charges for assault and manslaughter.” The woman on the screen explained. “He had been reported for being overly loud and disturbing the neighbors, but when the police arrived to tell him to quiet down, he was recognized as a wanted criminal and detained. His sentence was to be a lifetime sentence in prison on account of manslaughter, but was killed within an hour of arriving by getting into a fight with one of the inmates.”  
Zach stared at the screen blankly, unable to immediately process what he had seen.  
“Zach?” Jonathan questioned, looking up at him. “Are you ok?”  
“I…I can’t believe he’s finally gone.” He said, a smile spreading on his face. “Jonathan, he’s finally gone! He can’t hurt us anymore, I don’t have to be scared of him. He’s gone forever!” He exclaimed and pulled Jonathan into a quick hug. Soon he pulled back and put his hands on Jonathan’s face. He hesitated, then moved forward and lightly kissed Jonathan, but immediately retreated. He was met with a confused, red face from Jonathan.  
“I’m…I’m so sorry, I was excited and I…I didn’t mean to…I…” He was interrupted by Jonathan pulling him into another kiss, cradling the back of his head and slowly pulled back.  
“It’s ok.” He said. “Like you said, you don’t have to be afraid anymore.”  
And he was right. Zach never had to be afraid again, he thought to himself and pulled Jonathan into another kiss.


End file.
